Crown of Flowers
by starscriptmage
Summary: First of all, she never expected to give the chocolate she'd made for her crush to Murasakibara Atsushi in order to placate him. Second of all, how did she get involved with Murasakibara and Himuro, anyways? Murasakibara/OC
1. chocolate

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 _chapter 1 - chocolate_

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"He's so tall!"

Hanako turned to see a classmate talking to her friend, gesturing animatedly with her hands. The girl spins around and gestures at a boy sitting at the very back of the classroom, two seats behind Hanako.

Hanako turns as well, an expression of uncharacteristic shock crossing her face when she does. The guy is huge - though he's slouching over his desk, his shadow looms over the person in front of him. Two lazy purple eyes are trained on the ill-concealed bag of chips sitting on his open textbook. His mouth stops mid-chew as she poor boy in front hisses a barely audible, "Not in class, Atsushi," before the teacher asks for yesterday's assigned homework.

Hanako frowns. What was the giant boy's name again? Muramoto? Akira? Matsuya? Something long…

 _Ah_. Murasakibara.

"Hm?" Murasakibara's eyes flick over to Hanako for a moment, and she finds herself wondering if her head even reaches his chest.

Then the teacher calls her name ("Yamazaki! Please bring your homework here!") and she turns around, all thoughts of purple hair and sweet snacks leaving her mind.

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That incident doesn't cross her mind until Valentine's Day, when she enters the classroom, holding the chocolate she'd made herself last night.

It's pretty simply made , really, but that's only because Hanako only remembered to make it after the clock struck ten. _Being a person who loves making sweets, this is below mediocre_ , she thinks, sighing heavily. If only she'd been paying attention -

She sneaks a look at Futahashi-kun, the object of her interest, and flushes red. He's laughing with his friend over something, his chin resting in his hands.

Hanako puts the chocolate into her bag, smiling to herself, then starts to head toward her seat.

It happens in only a few moments. A light thump as a piece of candy drops on the ground. A crunch as Futahashi-kun stands and walks toward a friend, greeting him. A crash as a certain purple-haired giant shoves his chair away, looming like a tree over the boy.

Murasakibara's eyes narrow and he picks up Futahashi-kun by the back of his shirt, not even showing the slightest hint of strain. Hanako stares in horror as her crush dangles helplessly, his face paler than milk. Another boy, looking remarkably stressed, hurries over.

"Put him down, Atsushi," he says.

Hanako vaguely recognizes him as the person who sits behind her - as well as between her and Murasakibara.

Himuro pulls at Murasakibara's arm, but it doesn't even budge an inch. He pulls harder ("You'll get in trouble _again_!") However, it's all in vain: Murasakibara is literally smoldering with anger, his attention never leaving Futahashi-kun, and his grip is not loosening no matter what Himuro does.

 _What should I do?_ Hanako thinks. She can begin to hear the teacher's footsteps nearing the door, and everyone in the classroom has gone quiet, staring in horrified awe at the scene playing out before them. Her grip tightens on her bag -

 _Wait._ Hanako's mind races as the footsteps begin to slow. From what she'd seen so far, Murasakibara really likes snacks. So maybe -

She reaches up on her tiptoes and taps him on the shoulder, her heart pounding.

Murasakibara's head turns and he looks down at her.

"Please put Futahashi-kun down," she says, offering him the box of chocolates she'd made for said boy.

Futahashi-kun is promptly dropped back onto the ground with a thud. The whites around his eyes visible from shock, he scrambles for his desk, looking traumatized. Both he and Himuro give almost imperceptible sighs, equally relieved. As the footsteps of the teacher stop and the door slides open, Murasakibara opens the box of chocolates, having already forgotten his previous snack.

"Murasakibara-kun!" the teacher says. She doesn't seem very pleased at all, Hanako notices. "How many times have I told you not to eat in class? Please come see me after school, both you and Himuro-kun."

"Ah," Hanako says hesitantly. Both the teacher and the class focus on her, and she swallows awkwardly. "I'm sorry, but I was the one who gave it to him. It's not Murasakibara-kun's fault."

"You too, Yamazaki-san?" says the teacher, shaking her head in disappointment. "All right, then…"

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 _At least I tried,_ Hanako thinks wearily.

She, Murasakibara, and Himuro sit in their chairs, heads lowered, as the teacher lectures them on proper conduct and self-control. Hanako's head is pounding and her eyes ache, but she manages to stay awake. She shifts uncomfortably. To her left, Himuro's hands are moving restlessly, as if he really wants to do something. To her right, Murasakibara is chewing on the last of the chocolates. She realizes, not without some chagrin, that only Himuro and herself are actually paying attention to the teacher.

"...that's it," the teacher finally says. "Keep this in mind next time, okay, you three?"

"Yes, ma'am," Himuro and Hanako say.

Hanako nudges Murasakibara gently and he inclines his head.

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"I wasn't able to thank you earlier," Himuro begins apologetically as they step out of the room. Murasakibara follows behind them, his hands in his pockets. "You really saved us from getting into more trouble. So thank you very much for that."

"No problem," Hanako assures him, thinking, _what a gentleman._

She turns to Murasakibara.

"Well?"

He blinks slowly.

"What?" he says, looking almost bored.

She smiles.

"The chocolate. Did it taste good?"

A stare.

"It was good," he finally replies.

"I'm good to hear that," Hanako says.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Himuro says, tilting his head, "but why aren't you scared by Atsushi? I don't mean to be rude," he adds hastily, "but most people are intimidated by him. I thought you'd probably be terrified, after he picked up Futahashi like that, but apparently I was wrong."

"Terrified?" Hanako contemplates this. "Well, actually, I was so scared when he lifted up poor Futahashi-kun. But no, I don't really find Murasakibara-kun intimidating anymore. I thought he was pretty scary at first, but my opinion has changed."

"And why is that?"

"Murasakibara-kun looks a little frightening because of his height," she replies, "but after a while, he's actually quite sweet."

An amused smile makes its way across Hanako's face.

"Pun intended," she says, and Himuro laughs.

Then his expression changes abruptly.

"Oh, shoot! That reminds me!" he says, grabbing Murasakibara by the arm. "We're late for basketball practice again! Coach'll kill us!"

As Himuro attempts to make Murasakibara move faster, demanding to know if he had his gym stirp with him, Hanako is surprised to find herself grinning.

"Basketball practice, huh?" she says, laughing quietly. Reminding herself that she doesn't have anything to do with her time anyways (she'd usually go to Futahashi-kun's soccer practice, but for some reason, she has no desire to see Futahashi-kun today), she runs after Himuro and Murasakibara with a new spring in her step.


	2. crepes

**Dedicated to my best friend Paula, a.k.a. Akina-hime. I know how much you like Murasakibara, and I can see why you do. It's because he's hot - I mean, nice. Yes. Nice.**

 **Also, I am thinking about writing a Kenma/OC for Haikyuu, and a Kise/OC. Will I have enough time? No. But I'll try.**

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 _chapter 2 - crepes_

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"Can I watch your practice?" Hanako asks when she catches up with them.

"Ah, sure," says Himuro. He grins. "You'll be surprised."

"Muro-chin, I'm not going," says Murasakibara. He gives his friend an annoyed look. "It's boring."

"Atsushi!" Himuro protests. "This is the hundredth time you've skipped practice! What will Coach - "

"Coach doesn't care as long as I win in official games."

Then Hanako hears a voice say, "Just this once, please."

She's shocked to realize that it's her own. Her hand flies to her mouth as Himuro turns, blinking.

"I just thought it would be nice to watch you play," she says slowly. "I've never really been interested in basketball. I used to be part of the tennis club in middle school, but I'm not really into it anymore. And besides," she adds, noting with surprise that Murasakibara's actually listening, "I bet you play really well!"

Himuro looks like he wants to marry her when Murasakibara reluctantly agrees to join today's practice.

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"Himuro! Murasakibara!" barks a black-haired, clipboard-wielding woman when they enter the gym. She marches over to them, her face stormy. "You're exactly twenty minutes, fifty-three seconds late!" she shouts, pointing to her watch. "Ten laps, both of you!"

"Oh, it's Araki-sensei," Hanako says. "Is she your coach?"

"Yes," Himuro says.

"Okay." Hanako takes a step forward, straightening the edge of her skirt, and bows at an alarmingly low angle, nearly parallel to her legs.

"I apologize, Araki-sensei," she says, remaining in her position. "I am at fault for Himuro-kun and Murasakibara-kun's tardiness. The teacher wanted to talk to the three of us after class, but that is no excuse. I'm very sorry."

She's half-conscious of a voice exclaiming, "It's a girl!" and another retorting, "Shut up, please, captain."

There's a pause as Araki says, "Well, that's all right, I suppose."

Her legs aching, Hanako straightens with a sigh.

"I asked Himuro-kun and Murasakibara-kun if I could watch them practice, so is it okay if I stay?"

"Go ahead," Araki says, smiling firmly.

"Who's that? Is she Murasakibara's girlfriend, or something?" one of the players ask. He looks at her warily, gauging her average height, honey-coloured hair, and her schoolbag hanging over her shoulder by the strap.

"Even _Murasakibara_ has a girlfriend?" a third-year wails. Hanako watches, taken aback, as he bursts into incoherent burbling about the unfairness of life.

She hides a smile. "No, I'm not, actually," she says. "My name is Yamazaki Hanako, and I'm Murasakibara-kun's classmate. You're Fukui-senpai, I believe?"

The speaker, a narrow-eyed, ashy-haired boy, hesitates, then nods.

"And you're Okamura-senpai?"

The wide-shouldered, square-faced third-year stops blubbering

"Nice to meet you, Fukui-senpai, Okamura-senpai." Hanako takes a seat by the entrance, taking out her homework. Clicking her mechanical pencil, she gets to work just as Himuro and Murasakibara finish up their laps.

"Yon maiden seems to be endowed with an amiable disposition," another player remarks - Liu, she thinks.

"Yamazaki-san is in possession of good manners, politeness, and obedience," Araki says. Her face suddenly turns dark. "Unlike you lot. We're in the middle of practice! Get to it, boys!"

Writing the last symbol of the formula she's working on, Hanako exhales. The Yosen basketball team seems interesting, indeed.

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The sharp screech of a whistle sounding moments later makes Hanako look up. Araki pulls the whistle out of her mouth, hands on her hips. "Let's have a good game!" she says, and Hanako pushes away her math.

It's not a big surprise to see that Murasakibara gets the ball at the tip-off. It's not a big surprise either that Himuro's also assisting in offense, his fakes as slippery as syrup slipping off a spoon.

"That's what you call smooth," Hanako thinks, then giggles quietly.

The biggest surprise is, in fact, the way Murasakibara manages to block most of the opposing team's shots. His arms and legs do come in useful, Hanako thinks, not to mention his height. She finds herself staring, her mouth open, as he slaps the ball out of Fukui's hands for what, the fiftieth time? She'd thought Murasakibara would play well, considering his height, but this - _this_ -

This is raw talent.

All thoughts of numbers and letters fly out of her head. Hanako is glued to the game, her eyes quickly following everyone's movements. She draws her knees toward her, tucking a long strand of hair over her shoulder. Her heart pounds and she finds herself shaking in anticipation.

"Amazing," is all she can mutter when the whistle blows again, signalling the end of practice.

"Well, how was that?" Himuro says, offering her a hand.

Hanako takes it and he pulls her up.

"That was - that was - " she begins, then stops. She can't find the words to describe it at all. Her mind's at a total, complete loss, she can barely form a coherent thought. "That was beautiful," she finally says.

"Really?" Okamura looks ecstatic.

"Not you," Fukui says. "She's talking about Murasakibara."

"No, I - I meant the whole team," Hanako says, and OKamura promptly bursts into tears of happiness. Fukui rolls his eyes, huffing.

"I'm glad you liked it," Himuro says.

"No, it was a real pleasure to watch," she replies, and then it suddenly occurs to her that the entire team is _gigantic_.

 _H-Huge!_ she thinks, blinking. For a moment, Hanako is almost intimidated by the way everyone towers over her, but then she sees the way they're joking around and snatching each others' water bottles, and she laughs.

"You have such good friends," she tells Murasakibara.

He looks contemplative for a moment, but the look soon disappears as quickly as it came.

Yawning, he starts to head toward the exit, not bothering to look back.

"Muro-chin, I'm leaving," he calls over his shoulder.

"In your gym strip?" Himuro says, exasperated. He gives Hanako an apologetic look. "Atsushi's not very fond of practice, I'm afraid," he says. "I always have to bribe him with food. This time I told him I'd treat him to crepes. Would you like to come as well?"

"Me?" Hanako points at herself, tilting her head. "Why?"

"I haven't properly thanked you for convincing Atsushi to practice," Himuro explains. "Sometimes bribery doesn't work with him, and I'm glad you were there to persuade him."

"You're quite fond of thanking people," Hanako tells him drily. "Nevertheless, I would be honoured to join you two." She turns around and salutes the team, a glint of mischievousness clearly seen in her eye. "Thank you for letting me watch!" she calls "I'll try my best to coax Murasakibara-kun to join more practices!"

"Good luck with that," everyone choruses flatly, and she chuckles.

"And I'll be paying, by the way," she informs Himuro. He opens his mouth to protest, but she stops him. "Don't say anything, I'm quite stubborn when I want to be. It's my turn to thank you two for such an enjoyable afternoon."

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They come out of the crepe shop, each with their own crepes. Hanako sighs heavily. In the end, the entire team came along, and she and Himuro ended up splitting up the bill. At any rate, Hanako thinks, slipping her coin purse back into her bag, everyone's enjoying themselves. Even Liu, who had just been eyeing the shop with much distaste, looks close to smiling. Hanako shrugs, taking a bite out of her strawberry and whipped cream-filled crepe. She swallows, and suddenly finds her field of vision overshadowed by a busily munching Murasakibara.

He stoops, picking up a strand of her hair between his fingers, and turns to Himuro, who's quietly enjoying his blueberry banana crepe.

"Muro-chin," he says. "Her hair's the colour of my crepe."

Himuro hurries over. "What?"

"You may be right," Hanako says seriously, her head lowered in thought. She inspects her own hair. "Though I must say I've always found it more caramel than crepe."

She receives a blank stare from Himuro, and bursts into laughter - not the quiet, amused laughter she's accustomed to, but full-out, uncontrollable giggling. Bent over double with her hand on her chest, Hanako staggers to the side, crashing right into Murasakibara.

"She's choking," Fukui says.

"Help! Police! Call the ambulance!" cries Okamura in a panic.

Hanako flaps her hand at them, shaking her head. She clears her throat and takes a deep breath.

"The look on your face just now was priceless," she tells Himuro. "Sorry for alarming everyone."

As Okamura, beet-red in the face, barks at a roaring Fukui ("the ambulance - _the ambulance_ \- oh, captain, I can't take it anymore - "), Liu waves, taking his leave.

"I give my thanks to thee for the crepes," he says, and gives Fukui and Okamura one last long look before walking away.

"Thank you very much," says Okamura once he's calmed down. "It was really nice to have such delicious crepes with such a - "

"I'm leaving," Fukui announces, shoving a paper napkin into Okamura's mouth. He gives Hanako a short nod. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Okamura-senpai, Fukui-senpai," Hanako says. "It was really fun!"

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"That was… eventful," Himuro says.

Hanako says nothing in return, but the corners of her lips curl upwards.

"I'll be seeing you at school tomorrow, I trust, Yamazaki-san?"

When Hanako nods, he turns away, hands in his pockets, but not before Hanako plucks out her coin purse, counts, and slips several coins into his fingers.

"That should be the same amount you payed today," she says, turning away. "See you."

Murasakibara yawns behind her, and Hanako feels something being placed on top of her head. Puzzled, she lifts it off and inspects it, then looks back at Murasakibara.

"Maiubo," she says, smiling. "That's nice of you, Murasakibara-kun."

But he's already shuffling away, already snacking on his own maiubo.

Hanako lets out a puff of air and shrugs. She starts walking in the direction of home.

"See you, Murasakibara-kun," she shouts over her shoulder.

There is a nearly inaudible hiss of pain, as if Himuro had stepped on Murasakibara's foot, and a sigh.

"Mm," Murasakibara concedes. "Bye, Yama-chin," he says a little louder.

She stops right in her tracks.

Yama-chin?

Hanako smiles, a large, wide, and overly exuberant one this time, and continues on her way. Yama-chin isn't bad, she thinks.

It isn't bad at all.


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